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Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Geo LTD. Animation for Universal Pictures. The 46th Geo LTD. feature film, it is the second installment in the Gabriel and the Wacky Pack franchise, and the sequel to the 2004 film Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, which was loosely based on Geo G's comic book series The Wacky Pack. It was directed again by Jeff Fowler with co-direction by Geo G., written by Geo, Erica Rivinoja, J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, and produced by Teresa Cheng, Michael Wildshill, and John Cohen. Mitchell Musso, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones and Jake T. Austin reprised their roles as Gabriel, Roge, Leno, Coleand Loy, respectively. New cast members include Isla Fisher as Lily Stampla, Zac Efron as Lester Stampla, Rob Corddry as Mr. Leek, Emma Thompson as Celia, and Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jan Soto. Development of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 began in December 2004, after the success of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack. The film premiered on October 15, 2007 at the 2007 Annecy International Animated Film Festival and was released in the United States and Canada on November 21, 2007. Like its predecessor, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 was met with positive reviews, with critics praising its storyline and humor, and was a commercial and critical success. It was also a box office hit, having grossed over $781 million worldwide, making it the second highest grossing animated film of 2007. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 80th Academy Awards, but lost to both Ratatouille and Computeropolis 2 respectively. A third installment, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 3, was released on November 26, 2010. Plot A mysterious vehicle steals and eats all of the leeks from a village of leeks in Antietam Creek. Loy, Roge, Leno and Cole's brother, his new assistant Lily Stampla try to recruit Gabriel, Roge, Leno and Cole, to find out who ate the leeks. Gabriel refuses to help, claiming he is the adapted owner of Roge, Leno, Cole and the Lars. After Roge and Cole tell Gabriel and the Lars that they started the midnight party at Gabriel's room way back, they are distracted when they see that Leno will try to high jump with Roge's umbrella from the top of Gabriel's house. As Gabriel goes with Roge and Cole to the top of his house to save Leno from his act of daredevilry, he tries a long jump, but ends up crashing into the ground. Then Christine's (Gabriel's mother) car arrives, which almost hits Leno. More coming soon! Cast : Further information: List of The Wacky Pack characters * Mitchell Musso as Gabriel Garza, the 11-year-old best friend of the Wacky Pack. * Geo G. as Roge, the leader and the oldest member of the trio. * E.G. Daily as Leno, the middle member of the trio. * Nicky Jones as Cole, the youngest member of the trio. * Jake T. Austin as Loy, Roge's older brother and scientist. * Isla Fisher as Lily Stampla, Loy's new assistant, Lester's sister and Cole's love interest. * Zac Efron as Lester Stampla, Lily's brother. * Rob Corddry as Leek Leek Leek, better known as Mr. Leek, an imaginary man described as a "leek worker" who is known for using his mysterious vehicle to steal and eat all of the leeks from a village of leeks in Antietam Creek and kidnapping the Lars and into Dark Lars at his hideout. He used "leek" three times as his first, middle, and last name. * Sarah Jessica Parker as Christine Garza, Gabriel's mother. * Nick Offerman as Marvin Garza, Gabriel's father and Christine's divorced husband. * Ginnifer Goodwin as Desiree Garza, Gabriel's older sister. She was previously voiced by Amanda Bynes in the first film. * Frank Welker as Roxy, Gabriel's pet dog. * Kristen Schaal as Mrs. John, Gabriel's bossy teacher in the new school. * Emma Thompson as Celia, Marvin's girlfriend. * Freddie Benedict as Adan, Celia's son. * Julie Lemieux as Jannie, Celia's daughter. * Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jan Soto, a student whom Gabriel befriended in the new school. * Jeff Fowler as Jim the Lar, Tom the Lar, Sam the Lar, Jeff the Lar, Max the Lar, Additional Lars and Dark Lars. * David Stinnett as Additional Lars and Dark Lars. * Ryō Hirohashi as Japanese Leno. Additional voices * Carlos Alazraqui * Bridget Hoffman * Tara Strong * Jim Ward * Bill Farmer * Mona Marshall * Jess Harnell * Yuri Lowenthal * Laraine Newman * Danny Mann * April Winchell * John Cygan Production On December 5, 2004, Universal Pictures and Geo LTD. Animation announced a sequel for a theatrical release date of November 21, 2007, with Erica Rivinoja returning to write the screenplay for the sequel. It was also announced that Jeff Fowler is returning to direct the sequel, along with Teresa Cheng and Michael Wildshill producing it. On June 20, 2005, it was announced J. David Stem and David N. Weiss had been hired to do rewrites on the original screenplay by Erica Rivinoja. The co-writers for the first film, Kevin and Dan Hageman, insisted the film to be a traditional sequel, but after disagreements with the producers, they left the project and were replaced by co-director Geo G. In September 2005, Rob Corddry was cast to voice the villain, while Isla Fisher was in early negotiations in the sequel. In November 2005 that Fisher had been cast in the film. On December 15, 2005, Universal and Geo LTD. announced that Mitchell Musso, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, Jake T. Austin, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Nick Offerman were reprising their roles in the sequel. The role of Desiree Garza, Gabriel's sister, was taken over by Ginnifer Goodwin, since Amanda Bynes was unable to return due to her retirement from acting. On January 16, 2006, Emma Thompson was cast in a supporting role. On February 1, 2006, actor Zac Efron joined the cast of the film. In March 2006, actress Kristen Schaal was cast in a role. That same month, Fowler confirmed that they have begun the animation. Julie Lemieux, Freddie Benedict and Jonathan Morgan Heit joined the cast during the production. Release Marketing At the San Diego Comic-Con International held on June 19, 2006, Universal Pictures and Geo LTD. Animation released the first footage from the sequel, as part of their presentation at Hall H, with E.G. Daily, the voice of Leno in the film, hosting the panel. A viral marketing campaign for the film launched on September 14, 2006 included a lar website called Lars' World. The film's first teaser poster was released on September 25, 2006. The film's first official teaser trailer was released on November 3, 2006, and was attached to Flushed Away. Another teaser trailer was attached to Shrek the Third on May 18, 2007. The film's first full trailer was released on July 27, 2007 and was attached to The Simpsons Movie. Throughout the year, trailers and 20 second teaser posters of the movie were shown. Several merchandise were made for Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, such as toys and figurines. Universal teamed up with marketing partners in the United States and Canada to promote the film through McDonald's Happy Meals with a set of 11 toys. A hardcover book, called The Art of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, was published on October 26, 2007 by authors Sharon Gosling and Adam Newell, and a foreword by Geo G. and shows the detail of the artwork that went into the making of the film, with storyboards, research photographs and character sketches. A video game based on the film, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, was released on November 6, 2007. Developed by Papaya Studio and published by Activision, the game was released for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and Game Boy Advance. It was the last Gabriel and the Wacky Pack video game for the GBA. On December 16, 2007, Geo LTD. made a own PC port of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 published by Activision and developed by Exient Entertainment. Theatrical release Universal Pictures released Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 in the United States and Canada on November 21, 2007. The film premiered on October 15, 2007, as a special screening at the 2007 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. The film was digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D format and released in select international IMAX theatres. The film is accompanied by the short animated film Burger Paradise. The film was released on November 9, 2007 in the United Kingdom, Iceland, Mexico, and Taiwan and on November 16, 2007 in Japan. The film was also released on November 20, 2007 in Australia and the Netherlands. In Hungary, the largest cinema chain called Cinema City could not agree with Universal, and as a result it opened on November 26, 2007 on 52 screens, significantly fewer than similar big-budget productions. However, the film still managed to top the weekend box office chart of the country beating Dracula Untold, which had been leading the chart for three weeks (on 113 screens distributed by UIP Duna). International releases It was announced on November 30, 2007 that Universal Pictures would release the film in China on February 27, 2008 in IMAX 3D. Home media Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD on March 4, 2008. The theatrical short, Burger Paradise, was included. The releases were accompanied by a new animated short film The Wacky Time Has Past. The film has been released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United Kingdom on March 30, 2008 and in Austraila on April 7, 2008. Soundtrack : Main article: Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2/Soundtrack In December 2006, it was announced that Heitor Pereira, who scored the first film, had signed on to score the sequel. Reception Critical response Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 has received generally positive reviews. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a score of 85% based on 275 reviews with a rating average of 8.4 out of 10. The website's consensus reads: "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 supplies a coolest animated sequel to its predecessor." On review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average, the film has a "generally favorable" rating score of 68 out of 100 based on 56 reviews. Guy Lodge of Variety said, "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 is a good looking sequel to 2004′s better-than-expected “''Gabriel and the Wacky Pack'',” and it has lot of huge humor than the first one. It's more funnier than Despicable Me 2 and it's also fun for both kids and adults. It's way fun than its predecessor." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "was great and give laughter to everyone. It's one of the greatest sequels ever, along with Toy Story 2 and Shrek 2." Drew McWeeny of HitFix said, "The script by J. David Stem and David N. Weiss is about what funny things happening in this movie. Wacky Pack 2 has too much laughter." A.O. Scott of The New York Times praised the film for being able to balance out the sequences and animation with storytelling, writing that "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 may be the best film to have its beautiful animation with sequences and storyline, it is not the worst concept ever made since Foodfight!, but this film will be fun for the whole family." Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film a negative review, saying "The first one wasn't bad enough, but this one looks boring." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three out of four stars, saying "The first movie wasn't too much wacky for kids, but this one looks kind of okay." In February 2008, The National Post's Chris Knight listed Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 on his "best films of 2007". Box office Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 has grossed $781,682,761 worldwide. The film is the second highest-grossing animated film of 2007. Accolades Main article: 2015 Kids' Choice Awards